
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 40USC602a]

 
             TITLE 40--PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS
 
    CHAPTER 12--CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISITION OF PUBLIC 
                                BUILDINGS
 
Sec. 602a. Purchase contracts


(a) Authority of Administrator; terms; vesting of title; application of 
        installment payments to purchase price; procedures; report of 
        negotiations to Congressional committees; solicitation of 
        proposals

    Whenever the Administrator of General Services determines that the 
best interests of the United States will be served by taking action 
hereunder, he is authorized to provide space by entering into purchase 
contracts, the terms of which shall not be more than thirty years and 
which shall provide in each case that title to the property shall vest 
in the United States at or before the expiration of the contract term 
and upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions stipulated in each of 
such purchase contracts. Such terms and conditions shall include 
provision for the application to the purchase price agreed upon therein 
of installment payments made thereunder. Each purchase contract 
authorized by this section shall be entered into pursuant to the 
provisions of title III of the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949, as amended [41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.]. If any such 
contract is negotiated, the determination and findings supporting such 
negotiation shall be promptly reported in writing to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public 
Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives. Proposals for 
purchase contracts shall be solicited from the maximum number of 
qualified sources consistent with the nature and requirements of the 
facility to be procured.

(b) Contract provisions; limitations on amount of payments

    Each such purchase contract shall include such provisions as the 
Administrator of General Services, in his discretion, shall deem to be 
in the best interests of the United States and appropriate to secure the 
performance of the obligations imposed upon the party or parties that 
shall enter into such agreement with the United States. No such purchase 
contract shall provide for any payments to be made by the United States 
in excess of the amount necessary, as determined by the Administrator, 
to--
        (1) amortize the cost of construction of improvements to be 
    constructed plus the fair market value, on the date of the 
    agreement, of the site, if not owned by the United States; and
        (2) provide a reasonable rate of interest on the outstanding 
    principal as determined under paragraph (1) above; and
        (3) reimburse the contractor for the cost of any other 
    obligations required of him under the contract, including (but not 
    limited to) payment of taxes, costs of carrying appropriate 
    insurance, and costs of repair and maintenance if so required of the 
    contractor.

(c) Utilization of funds for payments

    Funds available on June 16, 1972, for the payment of rent and 
related charges for premises, whether appropriated directly to the 
General Services Administration or to any other agency of the Government 
and received by said Administration for such purpose, may be utilized by 
the Administrator of General Services to make payments becoming due from 
time to time from the United States as current charges in connection 
with agreements entered into under authority of this section.

(d) State and local taxes

    With respect to any interest in real property acquired under the 
provisions of this section, the same shall be subject to State and local 
taxes until title to the same shall pass to the Government of the United 
States.

(e) Agreements to effectuate purposes; development and improvement of 
        land; construction of projects previously approved; increase of 
        estimated maximum cost

    For the purpose of purchase contracts provided for in this section 
for the erection by the contractor of buildings and improvements for the 
use of the United States, the Administrator is authorized to enter into 
agreements with any person, copartnership, corporation, or other public 
or private entity, to effectuate any of the purposes of this section; 
and is further authorized to bring about the development and improvement 
of any land owned by the United States and under the control of the 
General Services Administration including the demolition of obsolete and 
outmoded structures situated thereon, by providing for the construction 
thereon by others of such structures and facilities as shall be the 
subject of the applicable purchase contracts, and by making available 
such plans and specifications for the construction of a public building 
thereon as the Government may possess. Projects heretofore approved 
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be constructed under 
authority of this section without further approval, and the prospectuses 
submitted to obtain such approval shall for all purposes, be considered 
as prospectuses for the purchase of space, except that any such project 
shall be subject to the requirements of section 606(b) of this title, 
based upon an estimated maximum cost increased by not more than an 
average of 10 per centum per year, exclusive of financing or other costs 
attributable to the use of the method of construction authorized by this 
section.

(f) Submission and approval of prospectus as prerequisite; exceptions; 
        procedure

    Except for previously approved prospectuses referred to in 
subsection (e) of this section, no purchase contract shall be entered 
into pursuant to the authority of this section until a prospectus 
therefor has been submitted and approved in accordance with section 606 
of this title.

(g) Expiration of contracting authority

    No purchase contract shall be entered into under the authority 
granted under this section after the end of the third fiscal year which 
begins after June 16, 1972.

(h) Prohibition on providing space until expiration of 30 days from 
        notification of Congressional committees by Administrator

    No space shall be provided pursuant to this section until after the 
expiration of 30 days from the date upon which the Administrator of 
General Services notifies the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate 
and House of Representatives of his determination that the best 
interests of the Federal Government will be served by providing such 
space by entering into a purchase contract therefor.

(Pub. L. 92-313, Sec. 5, June 16, 1972, 86 Stat. 219; Pub. L. 103-437, 
Sec. 14(a), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4590.)

                       References in Text

    The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as 
amended, referred to in subsec. (a), is act June 30, 1949, ch. 288, 63 
Stat. 393, as amended. Title III of the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949 is classified generally to 
subchapter IV (Sec. 251 et seq.) of chapter 4 of Title 41, Public 
Contracts. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see 
Short Title note set out under section 471 of this title and Tables.
    This chapter, referred to in subsec. (e), was in the original ``the 
Public Buildings Act of 1959, as amended (40 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)'', 
meaning Pub. L. 86-249. For complete classification of this Act to the 
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 601 of this title and 
Tables.

                          Codification

    Section was enacted as part of the Public Buildings Amendments of 
1972, and not as part of the Public Buildings Act of 1959 which 
comprises this chapter.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-437 substituted ``Committee on 
Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public 
Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives'' for 
``Committees on Public Works of the Senate and House of 
Representatives''.

                         Change of Name

    Committee on Public Works and Transportation of House of 
Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of House of Representatives by section 1(a) of Pub. L. 
104-14, set out as a note preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective June 16, 1972, see section 11 of Pub. L. 92-313, 
set out as an Effective Date of 1972 Amendment note under section 603 of 
this title.


Issuance of Regulations Pursuant to Public Buildings Amendments of 1972; 
           Approval of Rates for Space and Services Furnished

    Administrator to issue and coordinate regulations with Office of 
Management and Budget and Director of such Office to approve rates for 
space and services furnished, see section 7 of Pub. L. 92-313, set out 
as a note under section 603 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 490i of this title.
